Journo Hero EOTO: Nellie Bly

     Nellie Bly was a female journalist from the late 1800 to the early 1900s. She was born on May 5, 1864 in Cochrans Mills, Pennsylvania. In her early life, however, she didn't go by Nellie Bly. "Nellie Bly" was a pen name that she used when she started her journalism career in 1885 as a reporter for the Pittsburgh Dispatch. Bly's real name was Elizabeth Jane Cochrane. The name Nellie Bly comes from a song by Stephen Foster that was popular in the 1850s.

    In her professional life, Bly started her career at the Pittsburgh Dispatch when she wrote an angry letter to the editor of the paper in response to an article he published called, "What Girls Are Good For." In the article, girls were belittled and made to seem worthless, when Bly took her anger out on the editor, he was impressed by her writing and gave her a job working for the paper.

    Bly's first articles that she wrote for the Pittsburgh Dispatch centered around the conditions of the working girls in Pittsburgh, the slum life, and other touchy subjects that weren't commonly addressed in news. As a result of these articles, Bly became known for being a sharp and concerned reporter. After these articles were published, the paper limited Bly to only writing articles on women. This raised frustration in Bly and caused her to soon leave the Dispatch to write pieces freely without any constrictions.

    After leaving the Dispatch, Bly traveled through Mexico from 1886 to 1887 to write articles on corruption and the conditions of the poor. As a result of doing this type of writing, Bly was kicked out of the country for the sharp criticisms in her articles, angering Mexican officials. 

    Upon returning to the US, Bly started working as a reporter for Joseph Pulitzer's New York World  in NYC in 1887. When she came to this new paper, she wanted to report on the immigrant experience in the US, but was turned down by Pulitzer. Instead he suggested that she write about the Blackwell Insane Asylum. This prompted one of her most well-known experiences that has been important in why we still study her work as a journalist today. 

    To get herself committed to Blackwell's Asylum, Bly had to fake insanity and make herself seem like she belonged there. Shockingly, her charade was not difficult to pull off. Bly took residence in a temporary home for women and imitated the women around her that seemed to be the most insane. The matron of the house she was living in had the police escort her to court where she was deemed insane and sent to do time in Blackwell's Insane Asylum. Once committed, Bly took careful note of her experiences as well as those of the girls around her to wrote her own expose called Behind Asylum Bars. In her expose, she discussed the poor conditions of the asylum and brought about a grand jury investigation to help them get the improvements in patient care the establishment desperately needed.  In the months following the publication of her expose, the poor conditions that she exploited were on the mend. Inmates were getting better living conditions and more nutritional food, the nurses and physicians that had been abusing some of the patients were fired, and translators were hired to assist the foreign born patients who may not have been mentally ill but just couldn't understand the people they were interacting with. 

    Following this experience, Bly also wrote her own book called Ten Days in a Mad House. This book was originally published as a series of articles in the New York World, however, Bly later combined them to be published as a book in 1887.

    Bly's career as a writer didn't stop there, however. in 1890, Bly wrote a book titled Nellie Bly's Book: Around the World in Seventy-Two Days after completing a 72 day long flight around the world to disprove Jules Verne, a man who had previously done the same trip in 80 days. However, Bly only managed to hold on to the record for a few short months. Soon after, business man George Francis Train completed the same journey in 67 days. 

    After her exposition, Bly continued to write. Some of her most influential pieces that she published following her journey include interviews with anarchist activist and writer Emma Goldman and social politician Eugene V. Debs and major stories such as the March of Jacob Coxey's Army on Washington, D.C. and the Pullman strike in Chicago both of which were fighting for workers' rights. 

    On March 11, 1904 Bly's husband, Robert Seaman, passed away. After his death, Bly took up his business, Iron Clad Manufacturing Company and American Steel Barrel Company. In this role, she was able to patent numerous inventions within oil manufacturing that have still remained useful today including the first practical 55-gallon oil drum. During this time, it was an issue having to transport oil in traditional wooden barrels and there was a need for durable, leak-proof barrels. On a trip to Europe in 1904, Bly observed the use of glycerin steel containers for oil and became determined to bring the steel barrel to American trade. Soon after, she obtained a patent for her design of the "metal barrel" which she designed the following year. She put her design on the market for American trade and taught people how to use it, greatly increasing the sustainability of oil during shipping. 

        Taking a turn from her role as a journalist, Bly took a shot at being a business owner. In the beginning, things were going well, she prioritized the welfare of her employees, gave them health care benefits and recreational facilities, and she seemed to be on the right path until things took a turn.

    The workers at Bly's company ended up committing fraud and Bly slipped up on her management of the finances. As a result, the company went bankrupt. 

    Seeing as being a business owner wasn't her strong suit, Bly went back to the New York Journal  to work again as a reporter in 1920. She covered news on WWI from Europe and continued to write about major issues effecting women. 

    Bly passed away on January 27, 1922 in New York from pneumonia. In a tribute to her death, famous newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane marked Bly as "the best reporter in America," and that's how she's always been remembered to this day.

They Won't Forget

     After watching "They Won't Forget," I felt like I learned a lot more about the strong relationship between the press and the criminal justice system. For instance, there was a moment when the people printing the story about the alleged murder that Mr. Hale committed made it seem like they were adding their own personal biases and beliefs into the story. The press was printing papers against Mr. Hale because they believed him to be guilty and this is faulty journalism. The press was printing stories about a criminal act in a way that influenced the public with bias instead of straight facts. This is clearly unethical as the main role of a journalist is to seek the truth, yet in this case the journalists seemed to be going along with what the criminal justice system wanted. 

    The press also seemed to have a lot of liberties when it came to seeking answers in the criminal justice case against Mr. Hale. For instance, the press was just able to walk right into the Hale’s house without warning when they were trying to find answers. Also, they took a photo of Mrs. Hale fainting for their story which could be considered an invasion of privacy and highly unethical. In addition to that, when Mrs. Hale passed out, the press workers started searching her house and not only did it not seem like they had a warrant, but they stole something from her house while she was still unconscious and unable to say or do anything to stop them. Finally, the reporter told Mrs. Hale not to worry about it when she asked if what she was telling her about Mr. Hale would be kept off the record. This seemed a little sneaky because the reporter wasn't explicitly saying that she would keep what she said off the record, it seemed like she could have been playing Mrs. Hale to make her feel more comfortable.  

 

    When it got to the actual trial part of the film, I felt like it was clear how much of a role the press played in vocalizing what was happening in the criminal justice system. During the trial, whenever something significant happened, the press was on top of it making sure they were ready to expose what was going on to the public. “I can see the headlines right now, Mother vs Mother.” This was said by one of the law officials at the trial for Mr. Hale after a piece of evidence sparked an emotional reaction from the victim’s mother. This shows how the press not only had the ability to get information from the trial to the public, but that they used their power to sensationalize the trial with the dramatics of the event instead of publishing straight facts. Also, when they showed the future headlines in the film after the janitor destroyed Hale’s alibi, it made it seem like the press was using this to bring smaller trial details to a larger light.

        After watching this movie in class, I did more research into the connection between reporters and the criminal justice system. According to a Duke article exploring the news media's influence on criminal justice policy and how market-driven news promotes punitiveness, there was an increase in the coverage of crime stories in the news in the 1990s. In this time period, the news covered three major criminal investigations and trials including O.J. Simpson, the Menendez brothers, and JonBenet Ramsay. In these cases, as a result of the changing economic pressures facing news networks, the drive for profit caused them to push works away from hard news and more into tabloid-style crime stories meant to sensationalize. This seems quite similar to he way the trial of Mr. Hale was handled in the film we watched in class.

   The O.J. Simpson case was one that quickly became a media obsession during its coverage. Over 2,000 reporters covered the story and 19 television stations covered the trial live. The over-sensationalization of the case caused it to become more of a pop culture event rather than a criminal justice issue and O.J. Simpson ended the trial a free man. Similarly, the case of the Menendez brothers became a spectacle in the news because of how crazy it seemed to the public. Although in this case, the brothers were eventually convicted. Before one of the Menendez brothers confessed the murders to his psychiatrist nobody suspected the brothers, but after their confession, the case completely blew up. The brothers claimed to have committed the crime on account of sexual abuse by their father, yet once the confession was out and the news had gotten a hold of that, the brothers' fates were already sealed. Although in this case I believe that the brothers deserve the sentence they were given, it doesn't change how the news took this case and turned it into a dramatic news story that could've been confused for a dramatic crime show. In another case, the JonBenet Ramsay case, there are a number of canon books, news specials, and TV movies probing and re-dramatizing the case since the evidence and the way the body was found doesn't make much sense. In this case, however, the murderer was never found or charged, making the case that much more intriguing to the public. Yet, the case was completely taken over by the media.

    In all of these cases, even though it's clear that there was wrong-doing by the responsible party, the sensationalization of the cases by the media only made them seem like dramatic television shows rather than criminal justice cases. This is all very similar to what happened to Robert Hale in They Won't Forget. Through the media's dramatization of the case, Mr. Hale was charged of the crime he was convicted of, yet we'll never know if he was actually guilty or not. In the O.J. Simpson Case, this was very similar but with the opposite outcome. People still believe Simpson to be guilty but nobody will ever know because he was deemed not guilty. Regardless of the outcomes of any of these cases, it's clear that the media had a large role in making them known to the public. The issue I see in this is that instead of making these cases popular by revealing the facts, the media fed into the curiosity of the public and published these stories in a way that let people make their own assumptions and accusations, causing them all to still be popular cases to this day. But are they popular for the right reasons? That's what The Won't Forget has left us to think about.

    

EOTO 1 Reflection

     While watching the presentations in class, I was very intrigued to learn about the different aspects of journalism history. I think each group did a great job of presenting their information clearly and with a lot of detail to make it more interesting. In this blog post, I want to reflect on what I learned from these presentations and what I found interesting about them.

    During this class session, I was most intrigued to learn about political cartoons. From this presentation, I learned that the purpose of a political cartoon is to combine both art and politics as a form of satire to lend a satirical voice to those that are displeased with how the government handles certain situations. In these cartoons, cartoonists use things like metaphors and caricatures with humorous images to shed light on serious or more complicated political situations. I also learned that some of the most commonly used techniques to create a political cartoon are symbolism, exaggeration, labeling, analogy, and irony. I also learned that the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, also called the AAEC, is a group of political cartoonist members who aim to protect the right to keep creating them and that they deem their cartoons as a crucial form of expression. 

    In the past I've learned a little bit about political cartoons. There was a time in high school history when we focused a lot on political cartoons and it was a really big part of our curriculum, which is why I liked this presentation so much, it was something I'm familiar with but I was still able to learn a few new things. Some important figures in the world of political cartooning that the presenters mentioned during their presentation were Ben Franklin, George Townshend, James Gillary, George Cruikshank, John Tenniel, and a few more. I also really appreciated that in their presentation they included some examples of political cartoons and explained their significance, I thought this was a great way to emphasize what political cartoons are really for and how people perceive them.

    My favorite part of the presentation was at the very end when one of the presenters put a political cartoon on the screen and analyzed it using a reference to something Professor Smith said in one of our initial classes. This was a really great way to tie everything together and help the class think deeper on the meaning of political cartoons. 

    Another presentation that interested me was the presentation about the San Francisco Examiner and New York Journal. starting with the San Francisco Examiner, it first began after the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. The paper originally started as a democratic paper with pro-slavery and anti-Lincoln views. It wasn't until after Lincoln's death that the paper switched to become The Daily Examiner in 1865 with more republican and anti-slavery viewpoints as a result of the original paper being destroyed by a pro Lincoln mob. This was the most intriguing part of the presentation to me because I think this turn in direction shows how ever changing news is, it's important to never get comfortable in this industry because things can switch very quickly. 

    I also learned from this presentation that the Examiner has won two Pulitzer Prizes (the highest level of recognition in journalism) and has grown to become a very popular paper with many loyal readers. The paper was previously owned by William Randolph Hearst, a businessman who was best known for his role in yellow journalism, after his father, George Hearst, owned the paper before he did. Now, the paper is owned by a team of people under the jurisdiction of Clint Reilly Communications after William died in 2004. 

    Also in this presentation, they talked about The New York Journal. This ties into The San Francisco Examiner because both papers were previously owned by Hearst. This paper was in constant competition with The New York World (the paper that Nellie Bly worked for if you're curious to read about her in one of my more recent blog posts!). In this paper, Hearst used exaggerated cartoons and sensationalized stories with false information to keep people hooked on the paper. I found this part of the presentation very interesting because it reminded of a movie I watched in my high school journalism class senior year where a reporter made the very same mistake. The film was called Shattered Glass (2003). The movie is about renowned reporter, Stephen Glass, who wrote for The New Republic, a paper known for creating a foundation for young talented writers. In this film, we soon found out that he had fabricated almost all of the stories he wrote after making a mistake in website formatting for his last story run by The New Republic. At the end of the movie, Glass lost everything and was stripped of his career as a reporter. This is immediately what my mind went to while hearing this presentation and I thought that the same thing might happen to Hearst with how he was running The New York Journal. However, after hearing more from the presentation and doing a little research on my own, I realized that what Hearst was doing is just the basis of yellow journalism, using crude exaggerations and sensationalism to create a story. A common topic for Hearst was to bully the government to declare war in his stories and he never did see the same fate that Stephen Glass did. 

    

Why I'm In This Class

     As a journalism major, naturally it would be easiest for me to say this course is just a graduation requirement for me. Although this is true, my reasoning for becoming a journalism major, hence the reason I'm in this class, runs far deeper than just a surface level requirement.

    I've always been an avid writer and I knew from a very early age that my career would in some way be centered around writing. Since elementary school, my teachers have noted how easily writing comes to me and how impressed they've been with my work. 

    This lead me to write more in my free time in order to keep improving my skills, I loved how it felt to be recognized for something I was good at and I wanted to maintain this skill. Now, I write poems and short stories as a hobby which has truly fostered my love for writing to this day. 

    Naturally, English became my favorite subject in school, however, I didn't always know that this would lead to a career in journalism.

    In my senior year of high school, I took my first ever journalism class. In this class, I found that I had a passion for this style of writing and I immediately knew that this was what I wanted to pursue in college. It was the experience I gained from writing in class and from joining the staff of my school newspaper that  made me realize I wanted to explore this field more.

    In high school, I also had the chance to serve on the newspaper staff as the Arts and Entertainment editor. This was a great experience for me because I realized from this position that I wanted to not only go into journalism, but I wanted to have a focus in pop culture and entertainment style writing. 

    Now, my dream job would be to work in either print or broadcast journalism reporting for an entertainment company.

    In addition to these experiences, I knew I wanted my career to have some kind of deeper meaning. After learning more about the journalism industry and what I can do within this field, I realized the benefits of using my writing to tell the truth. Oftentimes, news can be stretched, contorted, and made to look a certain way to appease certain people. Once I learned that I could use my writing to eliminate this fatal flaw and fight against it, I developed an even deeper desire to become a journalist. 

    After having these thoughts and experiences, I knew I was on the right path to becoming a journalist, and along that path, I made my way to where I am now in this class.

The Society of Professional Journalists

    Over the course of time, journalism has grown immensely. In its origins, journalism didn't have nearly as much outreach or community as it does now. As a result of new technology and community growth, journalists are able to bind together in their field. Now, people all across the world are able to practice journalism within a community created just for that, The Society of Professional Journalists.

    The Society of Professional Journalists is an organization that was founded in 1909 at DePaul University in Greencastle, Indiana. 

    The SPJ was originally created to improve and protect journalism. Within their organization, they include broadcast, print and online journalists, journalism educators, and students with a desire to pursue journalism as a career all spread across nation participating in different chapters of the SPJ.

    The Society of Professional Journalists lists also has a specific code of ethics. This code says that the SPJ seeks the truth and reports it, minimizes harm, acts independently, and is accountable and transparent. The purpose of this specific code of ethics is to make sure that the SPJ focuses on public enlightenment in order to serve justice and have proper democracy. Also according to this code,  journalists in the SPJ should be able to explain ethical choices and the process of making them to their audience, respond quickly to questions that focus on the accuracy of the information they report, acknowledge when they make a mistake and be able to correct it in a timely fashion, expose unethical journalism, and hold themselves to the same high standards that they hold others to.

    The SPJ offers training programs, opportunities for professional development, stage conferences, and on demand jobs to help journalists become more experienced in their field. 

 Originally, the SPJ was founded as the Sigma Delta Chi fraternity by ten journalism students. They didn't change their name until 1973 when they changed it to Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi, and then again in 1988 when they officially changed to the SPJ.

    Starting in 1916, the SPJ began shifting from an honorary fraternity to a professional society. Their first big step in this process was the establishment of professional chapters in 1921. Then, the organization finally made the official shift to a professional society in 1960 after being rejected in 1937 and 1947 at their annual conventions. 

    The SPJ didn’t accept just anyone into their fraternity in the beginning, they didn’t start accepting women into their society until 1969. Once women started getting invited to the fraternity, Caroline Ross Pokrzywinski became the first woman to be accepted to the board in 1971, a big step for women in the SPJ. Then, less than ten years later in 1980, Jean Otto became the first elected female president, solidifying the important role of women in the SPJ. Now, the SPJ is home to about 7,000 members nationwide, male and female.  

    One of the major projects completed by the SPJ is Project Sunshine. This project was created to focus the attention of the press on problems of steadily0eroding access to national, state, and local government. Project Sunshine first began in 1990 in order to identify threats to public access and government and to organize a force to fight against those threats. With endorsements from the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation and The Freedom Forum, Project Sunshine was able to estate Sunshine laws to cover open meetings and public records. Overall, Project Sunshine is based off of team-building and establishing a network that is often called in to work on other immediate problems to campus journalism.